ProSiebenSat.1 and General Atlantic invest in KäuferPortal

Munich/New York/Berlin,
12.10.2016

The ProSiebenSat.1 Group, one of the largest independent media companies in Europe, and General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm, today announced their investments in KäuferPortal, a market leading online portal in Germany that connects customers with a vendor network for consulting-intensive products and services for home improvement and financial services.

ProSiebenSat.1, expert for brand building, and General Atlantic, a strategic partner that brings capital and operational expertise to entrepreneurs and management teams to help drive growth, will each acquire a 42 percent stake in the company. The other shares will remain with the company’s founders Robin Behlau and Mario Kohle. Both of the founders will remain at KäuferPortal in their current functions: Behlau as CEO, Kohle as chairman of the advisory board. The transaction must still be approved by the responsible cartel authorities.

KäuferPortal helps consumers obtain and compare offers from regional companies before making a major purchase. Customers can enter a free request on the website www.käuferportal.de. KäuferPortal clarifies what exactly the customer needs and suggests up to three matching specialized dealers from the region. The company received more than 1.2 million customer requests in the last 12 months. KäuferPortal plans to capitalize on the growing online search volumes for local offline product and service providers, expand its vendor network in the home improvement and financial services verticals, enhance its brand profile among mainstream audiences, and strengthen its infrastructure through key talent acquisitions and improved operating functions.

Robin Behlau, founder and CEO of KäuferPortal:
“Mario and I founded KäuferPortal eight years ago as students. Today, we manage 350 employees – and still see lots of room for further growth. Together with ProSiebenSat.1 and General Atlantic, we want to bring KäuferPortal to the next level and build it into a major brand.”

Claas van Delden, COO Digital Ventures & Commerce ProSiebenSat.1 Group and CEO 7Commerce: “KäuferPortal opens up a very interesting market to us, which is still largely offline-driven but has enormous online-potential. This is why we are getting on board with a minority investment now, setting the course for further growth. As a young company with a very steep growth trajectory, KäuferPortal will augment the ProSiebenSat.1 vertical “Online Comparison Portals,” which already includes the comparison portal Verivox. Synergies within the investment portfolio are obvious.” van Delden continues: We are delighted to partner with General Atlantic, an experienced global growth investor. With General Atlantic’s network, ProSiebenSat.1’s media power and the entrepreneurial spirit of the founders, we plan to tap the major future potential of KäuferPortal in the best possible way."

Jörn Nikolay, Managing Director and Head of Germany General Atlantic:
“KäuferPortal is an exciting addition to General Atlantic’s portfolio. We’re encouraged by the successes achieved by KäuferPortal thus far and look forward to leveraging our expertise in helping high-growth companies to capitalize on the ongoing offline online shift as well as our history of partnering with large corporations, such as ProSiebenSat.1, to accelerate growth and help our portfolio companies become market leaders. We’re looking forward to a great collaboration as partners with ProSiebenSat.1.”

About 7Commerce:
7Commerce is the strategic investment arm of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group in which the ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s strategic equity investments in the e-commerce business are bundled. In order to foster synergies and exchanges among the companies in this portfolio, 7Commerce combines its longer-term partnerships into so-called “verticals.” 7Commerce’s portfolio already includes leading brands such as Flaconi, Amorelie, Valmano, and Stylight in the beauty and accessories segment, and Verivox and moebel.de in the online comparison segment.

About General Atlantic:
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. Established in 1980, General Atlantic combines a collaborative global approach, sector-specific expertise, long-term investment horizon, and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great management and build exceptional businesses worldwide. General Atlantic has more than 100 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Greenwich, Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Mumbai, Munich, Palo Alto, São Paulo and Singapore.

About Beko KäuferPortal:
Robin Behlau and Mario Kohle launched the website käuferportal.de as young students in 2008. The online service helps consumers obtain and compare offers from regional companies before making a major purchase. In 2015, KäuferPortal announced its gradual expansion into the rest of Europe. Together with their partners, they now sell products and services worth EUR 500 million annually and employ more than 350 people in six locations across Europe. The vendor network comprises more than 2,300 companies all over Europe. They include major brands like Höffner, Jungheinrich and EON.